To infinity! And beyond!
A science opportunity for kids like no other
By Jiselle Simpson, Director of Chilled Kids
My son adores Buzz Lightyear’s famous line and he adores Toy Story even more. He also loves asking lots and lots of questions. I have a feeling that when he reaches school, he will just love science.
Dr Karl Kruszelnicki has got to be one of Australia’s most popular and respected scientists. He teaches at the University of Sydney and has written numerous books about science for children and clueless adults like me. Every week, he answers listeners’ questions on Triple J. It’s his enthusiasm for knowledge, I think, that makes him so special. But maybe it’s his shirts.
I stumbled upon a YouTube video of his the other day. It’s a two-minute clip; have a look below.
In it, he invites everyone aged 14-18 to enter a competition for Space Lab, a shuttle that orbits the earth every one-and-a-half hours. Teenagers all over the world are encouraged to devise a science experiment or intriguing science question they want answered. The winner gets their experiment performed on the International Space Station and shown live around the world.
These are the best I can think of:
1. In space, will I finally be able to perfect the batter for my mother’s amazing chocolate chip biscuits?
2. In space, will my son still find a way to get messy even if there’s no mess?
3. In space, will I still wake up at six o’clock, even on weekends?
I hope you, or someone you know, can enter and find out the answers to some vital science questions. Hopefully, they are more important than mine.
